JERUSALEM: Germany is to pay compensation to Jews persecuted in Algeria under the rule of Vichy France in World War II, a group which works for Nazi victims announced Monday.
The Claims Conference said on its website that Jews who lived in Algeria under pro-Nazi Vichy rule which lasted from July 1940 to November 1942 would each receive 2,556.46 euros ($3,175).
“This is a long overdue recognition for a large group of Jews in Algeria who suffered anti-Jewish measures by Nazi allies like the Vichy regime,” said Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference.
“The Vichy government subjected these people to restrictions on education, political life, participation in civil society and employment, abolishing French citizenship and singling them out only because they were Jews.”
The Claims Conference said an estimated 25,000 Algerian Jewish Holocaust survivors are still alive around the world, and that it would open registration centers around France for claimants, with payments starting from July.
Since a first accord signed by the former West Germany in 1952, more than 800,000 Holocaust victims have received a total of over $70 billion in compensation payments, according to the New York-based Claims Conference which was established in 1951.
Germany to compensate Algeria Jews under Vichy rule
Germany to compensate Algeria Jews under Vichy rule
